“The young woman was holding up a $20 bill and was telling me the taxi driver wouldn’t take cash. She said can you use your debit card for me and I’ll pay you in cash? Well, who would say no to that? WHERE? ” Edmee Moir of Etobicoke, Ont., told CTV News Toronto. The woman gave Moir the $20 bill, and Moir paid the cab driver with her debit card. She took her card, Moir entered her PIN and the transaction was over. But Moir said when she returned to her vehicle she noticed the debit card returned to her was not hers. “I get in my car and think, ‘Why, it’s not my card.’ I went back but by then they were both gone,” he said. Concerned that something was wrong, Moir rushed to her local bank branch. By the time she got there, the crooks had already drained $2,000 from her bank account, her daily limit, through an ATM. Moir said she was initially told she might not be able to get her money back because she had given the fraudsters her bank card. “They told me because you gave your card to the taxi driver, you have no chance of getting a cent back,” he said. The Good Samaritan Taxi Scam has been operating in various parts of the Greater Toronto Area. Usually, it involves a fake taxi driver and a person looking for people to pay with their debit card and accept cash in return. The scam also uses a fake debit machine that captures the PIN. So when the fraudster gets your debit card, they know your PIN and then immediately make purchases or cash withdrawals within your daily limit. Toronto police have warned about the scam in the past and said don’t give your debit card to anyone during a transaction and never return a debit machine with your card still inside. Employees encourage everyone to always inspect your debit card to make sure it’s yours after each transaction and to shield your card with your hand so no one can watch you enter your PIN. Moir banks with CIBC and when CTV News Toronto contacted CIBC Corporate Communications, they said Moir’s case was still under investigation. Josh Burleton, Senior Consultant, Public Affairs with CIBC told CTV News Toronto in a statement: “Protecting our clients is a clear priority for our team and when we identify an issue or issue is brought to our attention, we work quickly to investigate and resolving it matters, as we did for our client in this case.” “While we have strong controls in place to detect fraudulent activity, we encourage all our customers to be vigilant and vigilant about card swapping and other diversionary theft when paying for a delivery or service. More information on how to spot and stay safe from distraction theft and other scams and scams is available on our website.” CTV News Toronto told Moir today that she will get the stolen $2,000 back in her bank account, which was great news for her. “I can’t believe it, I can’t believe it. I’m so happy because $2,000 is a lot of money,” she said.
